1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an automatic ice maker of the open-cell type.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
Illustrated in FIGS. 11 and 12 is a conventional automatic ice maker of the open-cell type which includes a box-type housing 1 composed of a pair of side walls 1a connected with each other by means of front and rear wall panels 1c and 1b, a water storage tank 2 mounted to the bottom of housing 1, a sprinkler 3 mounted on the bottom plate of housing 1 for spouting ice making water upward from its nozzles 3a, and a plurality of ice making cell casings 4b mounted in an ice making chamber 4 formed in an upper portion of housing 1. An inclined ice chute 6 is placed in the interior of housing 1, and a shutter 7 is suspended from the front wall panel 1c of housing 1 at a lower side of the ice chute 6.
A cooling pipe 5 mounted on an upper plate 4a of ice making chamber 4 is connected to a refrigerant conduit 10 to be supplied with refrigerant from a freezing circuit including a compressor 11, a condenser 12 cooled by a cooling fan 13, a dehydrator 14 and an expansion valve 15. In the freezing circuit, a hot-gas valve 16 is provided in parallel with the condenser 12, dehydrator 14 and expansion valve 15. When the freezing circuit is activated in a condition where the hot-gas valve has been closed, the ice making chamber 4 is cooled by the refrigerant supplied into the cooling pipe 5 from the freezing circuit. When the expansion valve 15 is closed while the hot-gas valve 16 is being opened, the evaporated refrigerant is compressed by the compressor and supplied as hot-gas into the cooling pipe 5.
The ice making water W in water storage tank 2 is supplied into the sprinkler 3 by operation of a water pump (not shown), spouted upward from each nozzle 3a through openings of ice chute 6 and brought into contact with the internal surface of each ice making cell casing 4b cooled by the refrigerant supplied from the freezing circuit. Thus, the ice making water is partly frozen in each cell casing 4b, and a remainder of the water is returned into the water storage tank 2. The ice cubes formed in the cell casings 4b are enlarged in the course of lapse of a time. When hot-gas is supplied into the cooling pipe 5 in a condition where the cell casings 4b have been filled with the ice cubes, the ice making chamber 4 is heated by the hot-gas to release the ice cubes from cell casings 4b, and the ice cubes are received by the inclined ice chute 6 and slip downward on the ice chute 6 to open the shutter 7. Thus, the ice cubes are delivered into an ice storage cabinet (not shown) through the shutter 7.
In such a conventional automatic ice maker of the open-cell type described above, the water storage tank 2 is formed at its upper portion with a pair of outward flanges 2a which are engaged with a pair of outward flanges 1d formed on lower ends of side wall panels 1a and fixed in place by means of fastening screws 2b as shown in FIG. 12. Similarly, the sprinkler 3 is formed at its opposite sides with a pair of upward flanges 3b which are engaged with inner surfaces of the side wall panels 1a and fixed in place by means of fastening screws 3c. In addition, the ice chute 6 is formed at its opposite sides with a pair of upward flanges 6a which are engaged with the inner surfaces of side wall panels 1a and fixed in place by means of fastening screws 6b. 
As the ice cubes produced by the ice maker are used as food, the interior of the ice maker has to be maintained always in a clean condition. In a district where city water containing impurities such as silica, calcium or the like is used in the ice maker, the impurities adhere to the component parts of the ice maker such as the water storage tank 2, sprinkler 3 and ice chute 6 and solidify during lapse of a time. It is, therefore, required to remove the component parts from the housing for cleaning. However, removal of the component parts is troublesome since it is required to remove the fastening screws respectively. If the fastening screws are rusted, removal of the fastening screws will become difficult. In the assembly process of the component parts, it is also required to coincide each of the component parts with the corresponding mounting hole for fastening the screws.
In addition, to manufacture the automatic ice maker in various sizes, it is required to prepare the housing, water storage tank, sprinkler and ice chute in different sizes in accordance with the ice making performance of the ice maker. Particularly, as the housing is composed of molding parts complicated in construction, the preparation of molding dies for each ice maker housing causes an increase of the manufacturing cost.
It is, therefore, a primary object of the present invention to provide an automatic ice maker of the open-cell type the component parts of which can be disassembled in a simple manner for cleaning and assembled without any trouble.
According to the present invention, the object is accomplished by providing an automatic ice maker of the open-cell type which includes a housing composed of a pair of spaced side wall panels and front and rear wall panels jointed at their opposite ends to the side wall panels, a water storage tank mounted to the bottom of the housing, a sprinkler mounted within the bottom portion of the housing and having a plurality of nozzles for spouting upward ice making water supplied from the water storage tank, a cooling pipe mounted within an ice making chamber formed in an upper portion of the housing, a plurality of ice making cell casings horizontally mounted in the ice making chamber and located above the nozzles of the sprinkler to be supplied with the ice making chamber spouted therefrom and to be cooled by refrigerant supplied into the cooling pipe, and an ice chute in the form of a lattice placed in a forwardly inclined condition between the sprinkler and the ice making cell casings to permit the ice making water spouted into the cell casings therethrough from the nozzles of the sprinkler and to receive ice cubes formed in and released from the cell casings, wherein the ice chute is detachably mounted on a forwardly inclined support portion provided on the side wall panels in the interior of the housing and retained in place by resilient engagement with the support portion.
According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided an automatic ice maker of the open-cell type which includes a housing composed of a pair of spaced side wall panels and front and rear wall panels jointed at their opposite ends to the side wall panels, a water storage tank mounted to the bottom of the housing, a sprinkler mounted within the bottom portion of the housing and having a plurality of nozzles for spouting upward ice making water supplied from the water storage tank, a cooling pipe mounted within an ice making chamber formed in an upper portion of the housing, a plurality of ice making cell casings horizontally mounted in the ice making chamber and located above the nozzles of the sprinkler to be supplied with the ice making chamber spouted therefrom and to be cooled by refrigerant supplied into the cooling pipe, and an ice chute in the form of a lattice placed in a forwardly inclined condition between the sprinkler and the ice making cell casings to permit the ice making water spouted into the cell casings therethrough from the nozzles of the sprinkler and to receive ice cubes formed in and released from the cell casings, wherein the water storage tank is supported at its opposite sides on a pair of spaced support portions integrally formed on the lower ends of the side wall panels when inserted into a bottom space of the housing from its front and is retained in place by engagement with the support portions of the side wall panels.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an automatic ice maker of the open-cell type which includes a housing composed of a pair of spaced side wall panels and front and rear wall panels jointed at their opposite ends to the side wall panels, a water storage tank mounted to the bottom of the housing, a sprinkler mounted within the bottom portion of the housing and having a plurality of nozzles for spouting upward ice making water supplied from the water storage tank, a cooling pipe mounted within an ice making chamber formed in an upper portion of the housing, a plurality of ice making cell casings horizontally mounted in the ice making chamber and located above the nozzles of the sprinkler to be supplied with the ice making chamber spouted therefrom and to be cooled by refrigerant supplied into the cooling pipe, and an ice chute in the form of a lattice placed in a forwardly inclined condition between the sprinkler and the ice making cell casings to permit the ice making water spouted into the cell casings therethrough from the nozzles of the sprinkler and to receive ice cubes formed in and released from the cell casings, wherein the sprinkler is supported and retained in place on a pair of spaced support portions integrally formed on the lower ends of the side wall panels and located above the water storage tank when inserted into the interior of the housing from its front.